Naphtha-based ethylene margins up in Asia, LPG down

HOUSTON (ICIS)–Naphtha-based ethylene margins in Asia rose on weaker feedstock costs during the week ended 16 September, while LPG-based ethylene margins fell on weaker spot prices, the ICIS margin report showed on Monday.

In Northeast Asia, naphtha-based ethylene margins rose by 2.2% to $843/tonne, while margins in Southeast Asia rose by 2.5% to $740/tonne.

Feedstock costs for ethylene production were down in each region, by $39/tonne and $40/tonne, respectively, for NE Asia and SE Asia.

That was enough to outweigh declines of less than $10/tonne in co-product credit values and weaker spot ethylene.

Spot ethylene prices in each region fell by $15/tonne week on week.

For LPG-based ethylene, margins in NE Asia fell by 1.7% to $830/tonne, and margins in SE Asia fell by 2.5% to $692/tonne.

Feedstock costs for ethylene production were unchanged week on week, while co-product credit values fell by $1/tonne and $2/tonne for NE Asia and SE Asia, respectively.